šŸ§  Iā€™ve Been Thinkingā€¦

I get super curious when I meet people whose work lives are very different from mine. And after a series of these interactions last week, I gained a new appreciation for the need for 360Ā° respect and appreciation in the workplace.

Leaders cannot expect employees to just blindly follow orders anymore; and employees cannot expect their leaders to have all the answers. Our world has gotten much too complicated. And employees often donā€™t know the challenges their co-workers are experiencing.

By opening up dialogues so communication flows in all directions, we share our realities and pave the way for positive change.

Hereā€™s an idea to try out this week: have a conversation with someone whose work is very different from yoursā€“either inside or outside your own company. What are their biggest challenges? What do they enjoy most and leastā€”and why? See if what they share provides insights for your workplace and the roles in it. Iā€™m going to wager that respect and appreciation are huge factors in their answers. Let me know how it goes!

šŸš€ Information & Resources to Help You Drive Change

Here are my shares for this week:Ā 

SPECIAL NOTE: If you hit a paywall on any of the stories I share, go to Google Search, enter the name of the publication and something about the story (author, title, subject) to get a natural search link that usually by-passes the pay wall.

  • J.J. Mazzo hits the right points in this short piece for Forbes on what he learned when his company grew from 1-20 employees. Especially love his share about hiring carefullyā€“a valuable lesson I, too, learned the hard way.Ā 
  • This WSJ piece is written for consumers, but it applies to business banking too. AI is helping the bad guysā€“heads up.
  • I get itā€¦some employees are dishonest, need supervision, and donā€™t perform to expectations. But I think we need to ā€œget off the clockā€ and innovate better ways to set performance goals and assess productivity. ā€œThe clockā€ is too subjective for todayā€™s workforce. That being said, I understand the deception needed to be punished, but true confession, I clicked through to the article because the link said it was about mouse jigglers and I didnā€™t know what those were. Now I do and you can too. šŸ˜‚
  • Now this is cool: blue collar talent is finding lucrative side hustle workā€”as social influencers.
  • Practicing gratitude seems to be on everyoneā€™s list of important skills for leaders to cultivate, including this list from Rolling Stone. Rock on!
  • Is it possible to be ā€œtoo niceā€ at work? Absolutely! When weā€™re focused on being ā€œniceā€ as a mask to our anxiousness, we can come across as disingenuous and untrustworthy. This TEDTalk by social psychologist Tessa West shares her research on how people mask anxiety with overly polite feedback. She, also, gives three tips to be more clear and consistent with feedback.

šŸŒŸ Do Good Spotlight: The American Heart Association (AHA)

Founded in 1924, the AHA has become the nationā€™s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. Heart Disease is the #1 killer worldwide and AHA continues to provide research funding and programs to help people live healthier. Learn more about aiding their cause: American Heart Association.

šŸ–‹ Noteworthy: Seventh Generation

Itā€™s one thing to say you manufacture environmentally safe cleaning. Itā€™s another to get B Corp certified as proof youā€™re walking the walk and talking the talk. Seventh Generation helps customers keep their homes clean and fresh without adding to planetary woes. Hats off to Seventh Generation, one of the first companies to earn B Corp certification (way back in 2007) and still going strong.

šŸ’ž Better Workplaces Intention Pod

Weā€™re revamping the intention pod and will be bringing it back in a new format with new times so more of you can participate. Itā€™s an uplifting way to help keep yourself centered throughout the business week (and on the weekend too). Stay tunedā€¦

ā³Until Next Time…

Do you have good plans for the weekend? Active or chill? Do what you need to do to stay refreshed and focused. Taking care of ourselves is the best foundation for helping others, so make sure to invest time in the recharging activities that work best for you.Ā 

Iā€™m listening to ā€œJamesā€ by Percival Everett and loving itā€”thatā€™s my chill. Dinner party at a friendsā€™ home on Sundayā€”thatā€™s my active. Saturday is me pushing myself to get back on my e-bike after the knee surgeryā€”definitely not chill, hoping itā€™s active! Wish me luck!

Enjoy the rest of the week and your weekend too,

Niki

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Published On: 06/27/2024 / Categories: Niki's Notes / Tags: , , /

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